BBC ON THIS DAY | 18 | 1970: 'He spoke through his guitar' 1970: 'He spoke through his guitar' Jimi Hendrix collapsed and died suddenly during a party in London on 18 September 1970. The 27-year-old American-born musician was credited with revolutionising guitar-playing and modern music in his few short years. He rose to fame in Britain with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Following his death, his father, Al Hendrix, set up a company, Experience Hendrix, which aimed to preserve Jimi's legacy. Your tributes to Jimi Hendrix: I was only nine years old, but I was already a fan, as my older brother had bought me "Smash Hits" the year before on my birthday. We were on the way to the airport to pick up my brother, who had a one-week pass from service in Vietnam, when I heard a news flash that Jimi had died. To me, Jimi remains the single most important influence on the entire music scene. Joe Calles, USA By this time, I was already a fanatic, trying to convince anyone who would listen that this man was phenomenal.

I also was aware that Hendrix's music was helping my brother cope with the stress of war. So, I was the one who broke the news to my brother, and to this day, I can still see the look on his face when I broke the news. It was as if a family member had died. I have been a fan up to this very day, having just purchased the newly released "Live at Woodstock" DVD. To me, Jimi remains the single most important influence on the entire music scene, and there will NEVER be another like him. Joe Calles, USA I was a young kid on a vast university campus in Texas, fresh off the boat, so to speak, from Jamaica. A classmate lent me a tape with "Smashing of the Amps" and "Roomful of Mirrors" on it. My life hasn't been the same since. I walked around that campus for more than four years, with a fresh supply of batteries for my Walkman and a backpack of cassettes sharing space with my engineering books. You'll always be loved and missed. Arthur Z, USA I was just 17 when the news came that Jimi Hendrix had died.

Although I was much more into folk than rock and roll, I remember feeling that Hendrix's death was a milestone of some sort. Jack Albrecht, USA I was in London when our record company called me and told me of Hendrix's death. I was shocked. He was just getting started and was playing better than ever. I was in a band called Free at the time and had to break the news to our guitarist, Paul Kossoff. He idolised Jimi. We used to sit hunched over a record player listening to the guitar solos. He never really recovered from Jimi's death. Simon Kirke, USA I can remember exactly where I was when I heard that Jimi Hendrix had died. I was on a bus going to Hounslow Bowling Alley. I'd like to add that geniuses are not always appreciated in their time of life, as was my case when Jimi was playing some very complex and difficult-on-the-ears music. However, over the years I've acquired a much more complex and difficult-on-the-ears taste in music. Jimi is a genius, and in Portuguese I say "Sua musica vai viver sempre".

Abraco Robert Mickailides, Brazil I'm only 19 so I never got to see Jimi, but he changed what I listen to. I used to listen to top 40 rock/pop/hip-hop, Whatever was on MTV. After I listened to Jimi Hendrix's album Band Of Gypsies I just threw out all the CDs I owned. I just couldn't listen to them anymore. I then started to learn the guitar and now I love to play. Jimi Hendrix opened me up to all kinds of different music. In conclusion I do not watch MTV anymore, and it's thanks to Jimi. Gabriel Gras, USA My friend, Ros, and I went to London from Hemel Hempstead to see the film "Woodstock". When we arrived in London, we saw posters advertising the Evening Standard with the headline "Jimi Hendrix Dead". We were stunned. During the film, when Jimi's contribution was shown, everyone stood and applauded. Whenever I hear a Hendrix song, I recall that evening. Sue Kington-Smith, France I was a teenager in the 1960s growing up and attending school at a British Forces Education School in Germany.

Like all my peers, I was addicted to pop music. I loved the way the music made me feel and react. The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, The Kinks. These were my Gods. But I never really thought about the mechanics of the music, just the great songs. Then came the thundering realisation that the guitar was not just something that Harrison, Jones, Townsend etc played. It was an instrument that, when handled by a genius, could actually talk, scream, shout and cry. That Ggenius was Hendrix. He put the idea of "musician" into my head, a concept I'd always thought only belonged to the stuffy music of my parents. When he played, he spoke through his guitar, and when he died a major force in music died with him. RIP Jimi. And thanks for what you gave us. Barry Dyke, UK I was very young, and I heard this phrase in a song "Are you experienced?" My friends thought it was a great song about drugs and freedom and they were ready to explore that. But I was convinced the phrase meant not are you experienced, but do other people experience you? So, there it was.

Already Hendrix had injected me with the true seeds of revolution, to look at the world and see it the way you want to. He had lifted up one of the great shrouds of life - and taught me to look beyond the machinery (going through the motions of everyday life), and look at the processes, which we use to interpret life and how we ultimately take in everything around us. �The swan does not change; we must change the way we look at it.� (Rilke) Mark Compton Bowers, USA Although, I was only seven-year-old at the time, I was 'experienced' as my mother and father were both fans of modern music. I distinctly remember being in the Food Mart with my mother, listening to the radio that was broadcast over the PA, when news came of Jimi Hendrix's passing. I remember the older kids in my neighbourhood saying how great a guitarist he was, and years later when I myself became a guitarist, I was to learn how true that was. Jimi quite simply, reinvented modern guitar playing as we know it. Taking from the blues, his creativity and tone set the bar that became the standard for rock guitar.

His creations became the language with which all modern guitarists speak. There has never been another musician, before or since, that has made this type of impact in rock music. Fly on, little wing. Tom Guerra, USA I can remember exactly where I was when I learned that Jimi Hendrix was dead. My band was playing at the Bag O' Nails club in London, and we were walking about outside during a break. We saw the news billboard and were stunned. Phil Wade, Eyes of Blond, Norwich As a guitar player yet to make his mark, but possessing a unique style, I can testify that Jimi Hendrix is undoubtedly the greatest electric guitar player of all times. He could play funky, he could tear it up, and he could play deeper than the ocean and then send you into psychedelic space. His writing was poetic and visionary, and his persona exotically mysterious. Guitar players have come and gone since 1970, but none have come close to reproducing the force of nature that was Hendrix and thirty-five years on the chasm left by his death has widened and remains unfilled.

Prior to his passing he talked about his music in terms of an electric church and I have been fully-paid up disciple for 20 years. One of many. P Cafferty, Scotland BBC ON THIS DAY | 18 | 1970: Rock legend Hendrix dies after party 1970: Rock legend Hendrix dies after party Guitarist Jimi Hendrix has died after collapsing at a party in London. Police say there was no question of foul play. A number of sleeping pills were found at the house in Notting Hill Gate and they have been taken away for analysis. Hendrix, 27, was born in Seattle, Washington, but rose to fame in Britain with his band the Jimi Hendrix Experience. He will be remembered as a key figure in the music world who transformed electric guitar-playing using distortion, feedback and sheer volume to create a revolutionary new sound. Flamboyant Hendrix had been staying in London since cutting short a European tour with his band after bass player Billy Cox fell ill with stress and exhaustion. They were among the headline acts at the three-day Love and Peace Festival at Insel Fehrmarn in Germany. The concert was not an entire success.

A torrential downpour meant Hendrix postponed his performance by a day and the audience was disrupted by fighting and gunfire between rival German motorcycle gangs who eventually burned the stage to the ground. It was after this performance the group returned to London and Hendrix sent Cox back to the United States to convalesce. James Hendrix was part black, part Cherokee Indian and part Mexican. He left school early, having developed a keen interest in music but unable to read it. He joined the army as a paratrooper but was discharged due to injury and took up work as a session musician. He was spotted by former Animals' bass player turned manager Chas Chandler who persuaded him to move to London in the autumn of 1966. He changed Hendrix's stage name to "Jimi", and introduced him to drummer Mitch Mitchell and bass player Noel Redding to form the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The band's first single 'Hey Joe' spent 10 weeks in the UK charts, reaching number six in early 1967. They enhanced their reputation with flamboyant stage performances. With his long wiry hair and colourful clothes Hendrix kept audiences enthralled with his improvised solos often playing the guitar behind his back or between his legs.

Their performance of 'Wild Thing' at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967, in which Hendrix played the guitar with his teeth, confirmed their success in the US. The Jimi Hendrix Experience became one of the most popular and successful touring acts in the world. After the Hendrix Experience disbanded he continued performing with a range of musicians - including a memorable rendition of Star Spangled Banner at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. In 1970 the Jimi Hendrix Experience re-formed and were in the process of recording a new LP when he died. His final public performance in Britain was with American band War at Ronnie Scott's club in London last week. Jimi Hendrix Biography - life, family, name, school, mother, young, son, old, information, born Jimi Hendrix Biography London, England African American musician, songwriter, and guitarist Jimi Hendrix was one of the most original electric guitarists of all time, combining blues, hard rock, modern jazz, and soul into his own unmistakable sound. He was also a gifted songwriter.

Raised by his father Jimi Hendrix was born Johnny Allen Hendrix in Seattle, Washington, on November 27, 1942, the son of Al Hendrix and Lucille Jeter. His father—a gifted jazz dancer who worked at a number of jobs, including landscape gardening—bore much of the responsibility of raising the boy and his brother, Leon, as did their grandmother and various family friends. This was due to the unreliability of Lucille, who drank excessively and who would disappear for extended periods. Al Hendrix changed his son's name to James Marshall Hendrix in 1946. Al and Lucille divorced in 1951; Al Hendrix won custody of his sons and exercised as much discipline as he could, but the boys—young Jimi especially—worshipped their absentee mother. Jimi Hendrix wanted a guitar early on. Before acquiring his first real instrument, he "played" guitar on a broom and on a one-stringed ukulele. At last Al got his son a guitar, and the twelve-year-old Jimi began to teach himself to play.

Jimi restrung the guitar upside down—as a left-hander, he was forced to turn the instrument in the opposite direction from how it is usually played, which left the strings at the bottom unless he rearranged them. He learned blues songs from records by greats like B. B. King (1925–) and Muddy Waters (1915–1983). The guitar rarely left Jimi's side, even as he slept. By his mid-teens, Hendrix had formed a band called the Rocking Kings. He played behind his back, between his legs, and over his head—as had many blues guitarists before him. Thus he became a favorite to audiences, if not to all musicians. Reputation grows After dropping out of Garfield High School in Seattle, Hendrix joined the army at age seventeen to avoid a jail sentence for riding in a stolen car. He volunteered as a para-trooper (a person who jumps from planes using a parachute) and was soon jumping out of airplanes. Eventually he sent for his guitar and continued playing whenever he could. He met another soldier, bass player Billy Cox, with whom he formed a band that entertained troops all over the region.

After leaving the army, the two friends formed the King Kasuals and began playing regularly at a club in Nashville, Tennessee. Hendrix became known as the hottest guitarist in town. At the time he lacked confidence in his singing and was content to back other artists. Over the next few years Hendrix toured with several different bands, often stealing attention away from bandleaders who expected him to stay in the background. Hendrix's looks and on-stage behavior were influenced by the early rocker Little Richard (1932–). Hendrix played with the Isley Brothers, with saxophonist King Curtis, and later with friend Curtis Knight. In 1965 he signed a contract with Knight's manager, Ed Chalpin, receiving an advance of one dollar. He then formed his own group, Jimmy James & the Blue Flames, and moved to New York. Jimi Hendrix Experience In September 1966 Hendrix was brought to London, England, by Chas Chandler, a member of the rock group the Animals who wanted to be a manager.

Chandler suggested changing the spelling of Hendrix's first name to Jimi and helped him form the Jimi Hendrix Experience with bass player Noel Redding and drummer John "Mitch" Mitchell. Recording began the following month. By December the Experience had released its first hit single, "Hey Joe." Hendrix amazed even London's biggest rock stars with his electrifying stage show. He once said, "I sacrifice part of my soul every time I play." The Experience's first album, Are You Experienced?, was a huge success. Back in the United States, crowds were stunned by Hendrix's performances, which included the burning of his guitar. The band's next album, Axis: Bold as Love, showed Hendrix's growth as a songwriter, but he was unhappy with the way it sounded. He was also becoming tired of audiences who expected a "wild man" act. Hendrix tried to expand his musical range on Electric Ladyland, an album he had complete control over, and that was the greatest achievement of his brief recording career. Jimi Hendrix.

Jimi | The Official Jimi Hendrix Site James Marshall Hendrix November 27th, 1942 – September 18, 1970 Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix’s innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix’s meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. His musical language continues to influence a host of modern musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, and Steve Vai to Jonny Lang. Jimi Hendrix, born Johnny Allen Hendrix at 10:15 a.m. on November 27, 1942, at Seattle’s King County Hospital, was later renamed James Marshall by his father, James “Al” Hendrix. Young Jimmy (as he was referred to at the time) took an interest in music, drawing influence from virtually every major artist at the time, including B.B.

King, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Holly, and Robert Johnson. Entirely self-taught, Jimmy’s inability to read music made him concentrate even harder on the music he heard. Al took notice of Jimmy’s interest in the guitar, recalling, “I used to have Jimmy clean up the bedroom all the time while I was gone, and when I would come home I would find a lot of broom straws around the foot of the bed. I’d say to him, `Well didn’t you sweep up the floor?’ and he’d say, `Oh yeah,’ he did. But I’d find out later that he used to be sitting at the end of the bed there and strumming the broom like he was playing a guitar.” Al found an old one-string ukulele, which he gave to Jimmy to play a huge improvement over the broom. By the summer of 1958, Al had purchased Jimmy a five-dollar, second-hand acoustic guitar from one of his friends. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy joined his first band, The Velvetones. After a three-month stint with the group, Jimmy left to pursue his own interests.

The following summer, Al purchased Jimmy his first electric guitar, a Supro Ozark 1560S; Jimi used it when he joined The Rocking Kings. In 1961, Jimmy left home to enlist in the United States Army and in November 1962 earned the right to wear the “Screaming Eagles” patch for the paratroop division. While stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Jimmy formed The King Casuals with bassist Billy Cox. After being discharged due to an injury he received during a parachute jump, Jimmy began working as a session guitarist under the name Jimmy James. By the end of 1965, Jimmy had played with several marquee acts, including Ike and Tina Turner, Sam Cooke, the Isley Brothers, and Little Richard. Jimmy parted ways with Little Richard to form his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, shedding the role of back-line guitarist for the spotlight of lead guitar. Throughout the latter half of 1965, and into the first part of 1966, Jimmy played the rounds of smaller venues throughout Greenwich Village, catching up with Animals’ bassist Chas Chandler during a July performance at Caf‚ Wha?

Chandler was impressed with Jimmy’s performance and returned again in September 1966 to sign Hendrix to an agreement that would have him move to London to form a new band. Switching gears from bass player to manager, Chandler’s first task was to change Hendrix’s name to “Jimi.” Featuring drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding, the newly formed Jimi Hendrix Experience quickly became the talk of London in the fall of 1966. The Experience’s first single, “Hey Joe,” spent ten weeks on the UK charts, topping out at spot No. 6 in early 1967. The debut single was quickly followed by the release of a full-length album Are You Experienced, a psychedelic musical compilation featuring anthems of a generation.

Are You Experienced has remained one of the most popular rock albums of all time, featuring tracks like “Purple Haze,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Foxey Lady,” “Fire,” and “Are You Experienced?” Although Hendrix experienced overwhelming success in Britain, it wasn’t until he returned to America in June 1967 that he ignited the crowd at the Monterey International Pop Festival with his incendiary performance of “Wild Thing.” Literally overnight, The Jimi Hendrix Experience became one of most popular and highest grossing touring acts in the world. Hendrix followed Are You Experienced with Axis: Bold As Love. By 1968, Hendrix had taken greater control over the direction of his music; he spent considerable time working the consoles in the studio, with each turn of a knob or flick of the switch bringing clarity to his vision. Back in America, Jimi Hendrix built his own recording studio, Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The name of this project became the basis for his most demanding musical release, a two LP collection, Electric Ladyland. Throughout 1968, the demands of touring and studio work took its toll on the group and in 1969 the Experience disbanded.

The summer of 1969 brought emotional and musical growth to Jimi Hendrix. In playing the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in August 1969, Jimi joined forces with an eclectic ensemble called Gypsy Sun & Rainbows featuring Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Juma Sultan, and Jerry Velez. The Woodstock performance was highlighted by the renegade version of “Star Spangled Banner,” which brought the mud-soaked audience to a frenzy. Nineteen sixty-nine also brought about a new and defining collaboration featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar, bassist Billy Cox and Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles. Performing as the Band of Gypsys, this trio launched a series of four New Year’s performances on December 31, 1969 and January 1, 1970. Highlights from these performances were compiled and later released on the quintessential Band of Gypsys album in mid-1970 and the expanded Hendrix: Live At The Fillmore East in 1999.

As 1970 progressed, Jimi brought back drummer Mitch Mitchell to the group and together with Billy Cox on bass, this new trio once again formed The Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the studio, the group recorded several tracks for another two LP set, tentatively titled First Rays Of The New Rising Sun. Unfortunately, Hendrix was unable to see this musical vision through to completion due to his hectic worldwide touring schedules, then tragic death on September 18, 1970. Fortunately, the recordings Hendrix slated for release on the album were finally issued through the support of his family and original studio engineer Eddie Kramer on the 1997 release First Rays Of The New Rising Sun. From demo recordings to finished masters, Jimi Hendrix generated an amazing collection of songs over the course of his short career. The music of Jimi Hendrix embraced the influences of blues, ballads, rock, R&B, and jazz a collection of styles that continue to make Hendrix one of the most popular figures in the history of rock music.

Jimi Hendrix - Stars who died young - Pictures - CBS News Stars who died young Next Cory Monteith "Glee" star Cory Monteith died from a toxic mixture of heroin and alcohol on July 13, 2013, at the age of 31. The actor, who spoke bluntly about struggling with substance abuse since he was a teenager, sought treatment in rehab in April 2013. Credit: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images Heath Ledger Heath Ledger died in January 2008 at age 28, and the cause of his death has been linked to various prescription medications, including sleeping pills. In a 2007 interview with The New York Times, Ledger said he sometimes slept for only two hours a night when work was stressing him out, and on one occasion he took multiple Ambiens to fall asleep, only to wake up soon after. Credit: Carlo Allegri/Getty Images Amy Winehouse British singer Amy Winehouse poses for photographs after being interviewed by The Associated Press at a studio in north London, Feb. 16, 2007. Winehouse was found dead of alcohol poisoning at her home in London on July 23, 2011.

The singer was 27 years old. Credit: AP Photo/Matt Dunham Jimi Hendrix Gitarist Jimi Hendrix, seen here at Woodstock in August of 1969, was 27 when he died in a London hotel room in 1970. He choked on his own vomit after taking sleeping pills and red wine. Credit: AP Photo Kurt Cobain Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was just 27 when he killed himself with a shotgun in his Seattle home in April 1994. Just weeks before, he was treated for a drug overdoes in Italy. Credit: AP James Dean "Rebel Without a Cause" actor James Dean was 24 years old.when he died Sept. 30, 1955, in a head-on collision. Credit: AP Janis Joplin Janis Joplin was found dead in her room at the Landmark Hotel in Hollywood, Calif., on Oct. 4, 1970. She was 27. The official cause was an accidental heroin overdose.

Credit: AP John Belushi Actor and "Saturday Night Live" comedian John Belushi was 33 when he was found dead in his bungalow at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles on March 5, 1982. Cause of death was a combined injection of cocaine an d heroin. Credit: AP Dana Plato "Diff'rent Strokes" actress Dana Plato was 34 when she died of a drug overdose in an RV at her mother's Oklahoma home in 1999. Her death was later ruled a suicide. Credit: AP Photo/Las Vegas, Jim Laurie Jim Morrison Doors frontman Jim Morrison was 27 when he was found dead in the bathtub of his Paris apartment in 1971. He death was believed to be caused by a heart attack brought on by alcoholism and drug abuse. Credit: AP Marilyn Monroe Actress Marilyn Monroe, seen posing in a 1953 photo, was 36 when she died of barbiturate overdose in 1962. Credit: AP Brian Jones Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, whose problems with drugs and alcohol were widely known, drowned in the swimming pool of his English estate in 1969. He was 27.

Credit: AP Bruce Lee Martial arts actor Bruce Lee was 33 when he died of possible allergic reaction in 1973. Credit: Getty Images Sid Vicious Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious was just 21 when he was found dead Feb.2, 1979, in his girlfriend's New York apartment. The death was ruled an accidental overdose, though his mother later claimed he committed suicide. Credit: AP Photo/File Cass Ellliot "Mama Cass" Elliot, left, of the Mamas and the Papas was 32 when she died of a heart attack brought on by obesity in 1974. Credit: AP Keith Moon The Who drummer Keith Moon, right, was 32 when he died in 1978 of an overdose of medication. Credit: AP Aaliyah Singer Aaliyah was just 22 years old when she died in a plane crash on Aug. 25, 2001, in the Bahamas. Credit: Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect via Getty Images Chris Farley Chris Farley was found dead on Dec. 18, 1997, at the age of 33.

An autopsy later revealed that he had died of an overdose of cocaine and morphine. A significant contributing factor, the medical examiner said, was a narrowing of the arteries supplying the heart muscle. Credit: AP Jayne Mansfield Actress Jayne Mansfield, a sex symbol of the 1960s, is seen here in Paris. The mother of actress Mariska Hargitay, Mansfield was 34 when she was killed in a 1967 car accident. Credit: AFP?Getty Buddy Holly Rock pioneer Buddy Holly. was 22 when he was killed in a plane crash in 1959. Also on board that fatal flight were were singers Ritchie Valens, 17, and the Big Bopper, 28. Credit: CBS River Phoenix Actor River Phoenix died on Oct. 31, 1993, after collapsing outside the Viper Room nightclub in Hollywood. He was 23. An autopsy reportedly showed lethal levels of cocaine, morphine, Valium, marijuana and ephedrine in his body. The official cause of death was drug-induced heart failure.

Credit: AP Freddie Prinze Actor Freddie Prinze was 22 when he shot himself in 1977. His death was originally ruled a suicide, but in a civil case, a jury later decided the death was accidental since Prinze had a history of playing with guns. He is the father of actor Freddie Prinze Jr. Credit: AP Photo Patsy Cline Country singer Patsy Cline was 30 when she died in a plane crash in March 1963, near Camden, Tenn. Credit: AP Andy Gibb Bee Gees singer Andy Gibb died in March of 1988, just five days after his 30th birthday. The cause was heart failure which has alternately been attributed to drug abuse or a viral infection. Credit: AP Hank Williams Country singer Hank Williams as 29 when he died of a heart attack in 1953. He was found dead in his Cadillac convertible outside a West Virgina gas station.

Credit: AP Death, Drugs & Rock-and-Roll – Jimi Hendrix: Death, Drugs and Rock-n-roll Hours before Jimi Hendrix died he was working on a song titled “The Story of Life.” The last lines were: The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye. The story of love is hello and goodbye, Until we meet again. HARD ROCK No rock musician is more emblematic of the psychedelic 60s than Jimi Hendrix. The flamboyant guitarist became famous not only for such on-stage antics as lighting his guitar on fire, but blistering performances that earned him a reputation as a musical genius. Only five albums were released during his lifetime but he was recognized as one of the greatest rock guitarists ever. Jimi Hendrix died in the squalid flat of a German girlfriend in London September 18, 1970, after a long night of drinking and partying. After indulging in a smorgasbord of drugs and alcohol, he and the girlfriend returned to her apartment in the early hours of the morning where, according to the girlfriend, they both took some barbiturate pills to help them sleep.

A normal dose of the downers would have been just half a pill. The girlfriend claimed she took one pill; after Hendrix’s death an autopsy showed he had swallowed nine, 18 times more than recommended. The autopsy also revealed “massive” quantities of red wine not only in his stomach, but in his lungs. The quantity and combination likely would have proved fatal had he not first suffocated on the wine and his own vomit. There is little mystery as to what killed Jimi Hendrix. But how did it happen? Was it suicide, an accident, or murder? Ever since Hendrix’s death there have been those who think there may have been more to it than just another rock star done in by his own wretched excess. Some things don’t quite add up. MISTAKE OR FOUL PLAY? Friends of Hendrix rule out suicide, in spite of his many personal and professional problems. According to them Hendrix believed the soul of a person who committed suicide would never rest. It could have been an accident. Hendrix was known for being able to take larger quantities of drugs than anyone else. He may have mistaken the potent barbiturates for regular sleeping pills and grabbed the usual handful.

On the other hand, as experienced a drug-taker as Hendrix was it wasn’t a mistake he was likely to make. And it was common knowledge that drinking alcohol with downers was asking for serious trouble. But the quantity of wine found inside him, and around him on the bed where he was found, raises the intriguing question, did he drink that much or was it poured down him by someone? How did so much get into his lungs? Oddly, the autopsy showed a relatively low blood-alcohol level in his body, leading some to speculate that Hendrix drowned in the wine before much of it was absorbed into his body. Who had reason to want Jimi Hendrix dead? It may be impossible to know now, more than 30 years after his death. But here are some possibilities. THE GIRLFRIEND According to the girlfriend, Monika Dannemann, who committed suicide in 1996, she woke up the morning of the 18th, saw that Hendrix was sleeping normally and went out for cigarettes. When she returned she saw Hendrix had been sick and was having trouble breathing.

She tried to wake him, but when she couldn’t she began to panic and called a friend, musician Eric Burdon who they had partied with the night before, to ask what to do. After first hanging up on her, Burdon called back and insisted Dannemann call an ambulance. Dannemann claimed Hendrix was alive when the ambulance arrived a few minutes later, about 11:30 a.m., and that she rode in the ambulance with him to the hospital. According to Dannemann Hendrix was propped upright on the trip and suffocated on the way. The ambulance attendants tell a different story. The two men, according to an article in Guitar World by James Rotondi, arrived at the apartment to find it empty except for Hendrix lying in a mess on the bed, quite dead already. They say they went through the motions of trying to revive Hendrix because that was standard procedure. Then they wrapped up the body, carried it to the ambulance and drove to the hospital. Hendrix was pronounced dead on arrival. The autopsy cautiously concludes that the exact cause and time of death are unknown, but evidence points to a time of death possibly several hours before the ambulance arrived.

Was Monika Dannemann trying to cover-up something? If so, what and why? THE GOVERNMENT Rock music has long been associated with rebellion, revolution and social change, ideas that appeal to youthful fans, but are a cause for concern for the Establishment. It is well-known that during the Hoover era, and perhaps even more recently, the FBI kept dossiers not only on political activists, but actors, authors and a wide variety of other potential “threats.” It is not surprising that influential musicians such as Jimi Hendrix would draw the interest of the government—and perhaps more. In his book The Covert War Against Rock,” author Alex Constantine says Hendrix’s FBI file, released in 1979 to a student newspaper in Santa Barbara, reveals that Hendrix was on a list of “subversives” to be placed in detainment camps in the event of national emergency. Hendrix was an icon of not only rock-n-roll rebellion, but the Black Power and anti-war movements of the 60s. Did the US intelligence agencies consider Hendrix not only subversive, but dangerous?

There are those who believe that Hendrix and other musicians, including Jim Morrison of The Doors, ex-Beatle John Lennon, and more recently rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.—all who died under suspicious circumstances—may have been killed by the government. It would be remarkably easy to make the murder of musicians who live life close to the edge anyway look like an accident, or to blame a killing on a “lone nut” or “gang violence.” Paranoid fantasy, or could there be some truth to these fears? THE MOB Government agents may not have been the only ones with an eye on Hendrix. Organized crime figures were involved with the music industry long before Hendrix. To the Mob the industry wasn’t about music—it was about money and drugs. And around Hendrix there was plenty of both. According to author Alex Constantine, Hendrix was muscled by the Mob after declining an invitation to play at the Salvation, a New York club controlled by the Gambino crime family. Hendrix had been a regular at the club, but after the proprietor was murdered following an attempt to break free of Mob control Hendrix evidently felt uncomfortable playing there.

Shortly after, Constantine says, a stranger approached Hendrix on the street, and while chatting pulled out a .38 pistol and casually hit a target 25 feet away. Hendrix got the message and decided to play the club after all. Another time Hendrix was kidnapped from the Salvation by some thugs claiming to be Mafia. They took him to a Manhattan apartment and told him to call his manager, Michael Jeffery, and relay a demand to transfer his contract to the Mafia—or else. Hendrix was rescued from the thugs by men sent by Jeffery, but Hendrix later told people he thought Jeffery arranged the whole thing. Hendrix may have had good reason not to trust his manager. THE MANAGER Those seeking to tie together the loose ends of government agencies, the Mob and enormous amounts of money need look no further than Michael Jeffery. Jeffery served in the British Intelligence Corps in the 50s, and years later boasted of underworld connections. As Hendrix’s manager Jeffery had control of millions of dollars earned by Hendrix, much of which was diverted by Jeffery to offshore bank accounts.

Hendrix became increasingly aware that Jeffery was cheating him, and just before his death made arrangements to cancel his contract with Jeffery. The manager understandably could have been upset at the prospect of losing his lucrative client, but why kill Hendrix? The answer could lie in the rumor that Jeffery had taken out a million-dollar life insurance policy on Hendrix. Additionally Jeffery could have made much more from the scores of Hendrix albums released after the musician’s death. Whatever involvement the former intelligence agent may have had in Hendrix’s death was indirect; he was vacationing in Spain when Hendrix died. To some Jeffrey was further implicated when he himself died under unusual circumstances less than three years later, in a plane crash. PREMONITION A number of times in the weeks before his death the 27-year-old Jimi Hendrix asked friends “Do you think I will live to be 28?” Did he have a premonition of what was coming? Friends say he was becoming increasingly paranoid, perhaps with good reason.

Whatever the truth of the death of Jimi Hendrix, his life, as he wrote in his final song, was indeed “quicker than the wink of an eye.” copyright©Jim McCluskey 2002-2012

Question: How old was Jimi Hendrix when he died in 1970?
Answer: 27